Little Miss Jabberwocki and Mr. Commentator

(Forgive me if the above is spelled incorrectly . . . I don't have time to look up the reference.)

If you have ever witnessed a little boy and little girl growing up, you have surely noticed differences in the way they behave. However, I have been amazed at the different ways my two have also developed in various areas. The biggest discrepancy between my kiddos has been in regards to language.

When Cavan was 16 months (Kellyn's age), he had a few signs such as "out", "more", "milk" and "help". He didn't really use words verbally though. He was still communicating, just not in your typical fashion. One of my favorite signs he made occurred when I would get home from work in the afternoons. He used to do this very cute "Milk Dance". He'd bounce up and down vigorously, flexing his knees, closing his fingers in both hands (milk sign) and give me this HUGE smile because he knew it was time to nurse!

Little Miss Kellyn, on the other hand, is making the beginnings of many words, such as "car", "poop", "Cavan" (which sounds a lot like "car" at this point since it is only "ka"), "pop", "off", "out", "more", "shoe", "toy", "book", "water", "eat", "pizza" and others that I can't recall right now. Clearly, she is using her words more than Cavan was. In addition to these, she has also shown an interest in the potty and its functions, which may be a passing fancy. But I may try to capitalize on that in a few months anyway. ;)

The neatest thing Kellyn is doing now is jabbering, or babbling, almost non-stop! She pulls open a book and just starts pointing and saying "Pa-ka-pa-ka-ta-da-ba" with an occasional glance up towards me and then resuming where she left off . . . "Ka-ka-ka-pa-da-pa-ka-ba". We don't know all of what she is saying, or even most of it for that matter, but we do know she is talking up a storm!

I was never concerned about Cavan's language development because I knew boys were slower in general and he was communicating with us in other ways. You'll all be happy to know that my late talker now will not give me one minute of quiet. ;) Car rides, playing games, reading books, loading the dishwasher, doing laundry, cleaning diapers . . . he will comment on EVERY BLOOMIN' THING! Now, don't get me wrong, I am grateful he is starting to talk so proficiently. It's just that I am starting to experience nightly headaches from the almost-constant noise. He frequently points out all the "raaace taaars" on the street and what he sees. He likes to give me a play-by-play of my actions as well . . .

Cavan: "Mama, you do . . . mama, you do . . . mama, you do dishes???"

Me: "Yes, Cavan. I am doing the dishes."

Cavan: "Why . . .why you . . . why you do-een dishes?"

Me: "Because they're dirty, honey."

Cavan: "Oooohhh. Bee-duz dey duhdee? (Pause.) Dat why you deen-een dem?"

Me: "Yes, Cavan. That is why I am cleaning them."

Cavan: "Oohh. You wite deen-een dishes?"

Me: "No, Cavan, I don't particularly like cleaning dishes but we need them to eat."

Cavan: "Oh. What we go-ween eat?"

And on and on . . . I think you get the picture. ;) People tell me I will miss the sounds that children make in my home when they are all grown and gone. For now, I just long for a few minutes of quiet. Whoever wrote the song was right because when you are a mom, silence is golden.